From the editor-in-chief

The contribution of geographers in the military-geographical provision of the army and the rear is shown from the analysis of “The list of works of the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences, made during the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945)”; archival materials (maps, descriptions, and reports of 1941–1945), handed over to the Museum of the history of the Institute in 2014 with the participation of the author; and numerous publications in the geographical editions to the 40th and the 50th anniversaries of the Great Victory. Quantitative and qualitative estimations of cartographic and reference materials prepared in the Institute of Geography during the Great Patriotic War are presented. Inter alia, direct participation of I.P. Gerasimov and K.K. Markov in these works is mapped. It is supposed that due to the refusal from the ideological struggle with Alfred Hettner’s direction in geography in war years, the national geography returned to regional studies, landscape approach, and sectoral-statistic approach in economic geography. All this helped to quickly generate the required for the front and the rear military mapping and reference materials, including maps: landscapes of the territories of the fronts and the rear, trafficability, distribution of population, productive forces, natural resources, the mobilization potential of the territories, and etc. It is shown that each of scientific directions of the Institute of Geography during the War received its innovative development in the postwar years.

The importance of factor of geographical space for social sciences is discussed. The coordinates of time and space and the strategy of accounting of heterogeneity of geographical space are taken into account. It is shown that the systematic refusal from accounting of the factor of geographical space leads to an accumulation of errors and to the distortion of the real picture of the processes in the society. The popular term of “network society” (network landscape) in fact is an antagonist of geographical space. The Russian tradition to neglect the factor of geographical space in social sciences dates back to the K. Marx’s scheme: the general and the particular. Local features of the geographical spaces are considered as “parts” not going beyond the framework of “whole”. It is shown that such a construction is not mandatory and is wrong also from a theoretical point of view. In world practice, the alternative theories (in particular, the evolutionary theories of Ch. Darwin and L.S. Berg, the economic theories of monetarism and Keynesian economics) have different factual basis, including different fragments of geographical space. A priori interpretation of any fragments of geographical space as interchangeable by Russian sociologists leads to ill-founded conclusions. The current state of cultural geography is reviewed critically. The negative assessment of the refusal of traditions, causing little attention is paid to research of various local issues, is presented. The results of studies in the field of modeling of geographical images are critically reviewed. New trends in the development of cultural geography unite it with modern political technologies. From the point of view of the author, cultural geography should unit a thorough analysis of various local cultural conditions with theoretical generalizations.

An approach to modeling of a cultural landscape, developed for its typology and mapping at various territorial levels, is presented. The proposed model of cultural landscape consists of points (loci), tracks (lines) and shapes (polygons), which together reflect the diversity of forms and types of anthropogenic impact. The age of the cultural landscape is understood as the age of its constituent elements indicating of the experience of interaction between man and nature. It is suggested that the problem of multi-scale nature of the cultural landscape is defined by multi-scale nature of culture. The approach is illustrated by the case of the identification of elements of the cultural landscape at the local level for individual regions of Europe and at the regional level for the Mediterranean. The indicative role of cultural heritage sites of recognized global significance in determining of the age of cultural landscapes and areas of the palimpsest landscape on the base of composition and location is considered.

The paper is devoted to the complex space-time analysis of the development of the Internet in the Russian Federation. The following quantitative and infrastructural aspects of regional disparities in the spread of the Internet are discussed: the regional distribution of the Internet audience, growth poles, disparities in the penetration level, etc. Changes in the geography of the Internet that took place over the first decade of the 21st century are revealed. Features of the Russia’s geographical position and the related significant role of wireless technologies and of the mobile Internet in particular are described. The network and organizational structure of the Russian Internet and its development prospects are covered. Qualitative aspects of regional disparities in the spread of the Internet in Russia are analyzed separately (the activity and effectiveness of the use of the Internet by the population). The dynamics and regional disparities in the development of the Internet and e-commerce market in Russia are examined. Conclusions about significant decentralization in the regional distribution of Internet users in Russia, which occurred in the first decade of the 21st century, are made. The rapid proliferation of mobile communication technologies and mobile Internet penetration, in terms of which Russia is among the world leaders, plays a significant role in smoothing of geographical contrasts. However, a sufficiently rapid reduction in quantitative imbalances inside the country is accompanied by the preservation of significant qualitative gaps in the sphere of creation of Internet information resources and the Internet market, where there is still a monopoly of metropolitan areas.

The theoretical and methodological aspects of the analysis of the regional transport systems are studied; a comprehensive typology of transport systems at the regional and municipal levels is conducted; the modelling of typological and evaluative synthetic characteristics of the transport network of the Republic of Mordovia is suggested. The complex nature of the study is resulted from the presence of the various components of the territorial socioeconomic systems: production facilities, the population and the environment. The proposed approach is based on the creation of the integral index for the aggregated information, ranking and typing the regions and regional transport systems to quantify the value of this index. We study the typological characteristics and properties of the regions, the impact of a transport factor on their functioning, a possibility of increasing the regional competitiveness with the implementation of efficient transport strategies, which may help to overcome the regional depressiveness. The six basic types of transport systems of the depressed regions are identified. On the case of the Republic of Mordovia, which has the same attributes of its transport network, as the most other studied regions, we carry out a typology of the networks at the level of municipal districts. The proposed modelling of typological and evaluative synthetic characteristics of the transport network of the Republic of Mordovia could be used for solving the problems of road transport operations in the region, the territorial planning and the formation of regional development strategies.

The conceptual apparatus of the article is reviewed in the Introduction. The second part is devoted to the historical and geographical overview of the evolution of the power industry in Kostroma oblast. Topographic analysis of energy space of Kostroma oblast shows that three fourth of the area of Kostroma oblast will face problems in the case of system failure in the power system. Therefore, the traditional model of combining of different schemes of power supply is required. The development of gas turbine technologies determines the possibility of the formation of linear-nodal and areal-nodal types of local power supply systems, and the use of renewable energy sources gives the possibility of using of areal type power supply systems. Diversification of energy sources determines the growth of supply reliability. The main directions of combining of energy systems are presented as conclusions of the article. The sparsely populated rural areas of the Kostroma oblast (1.5 persons per square km) limit the feasibility of increasing of centralization of energy system. Local energy systems allow to solve energy and social problems of population. In the areas with a high share of small settlements (population density from 1.5 to 3.0 persons per square km) the reliability of power supply is dramatically reduced due to wear electricity distribution grids. The problem can be solved by combining the local and centralized power systems. Schemes of combining of local and centralized energy systems are also applicable in recreational and conservation areas. This direction is promising for areas that act as growth poles (in the Volga area). The scheme of the local energy system provides the operation of the small generation module as an integral part of a centralized system and increased synergies.

The results of a comprehensive paleoecological study of ridge-hollow bog complex in the southern taiga of Western Siberia on the case of two sections of hollow and ridge are shown. Special attention is paid to the climatic impact on the formation of peat deposits in the Holocene which was manifested in the fact that the ridges were sensitive to the impact in eutrophic and mesotrophic stages, and the hollows were sensitive in oligotrophic stage.

Estimations of the areas of inhabitancy and exploration allow us to say confidently that in areas inhabited by representatives of Dyakovo culture (Early Iron Age: the 5th century BC – the 5th century AD) there were no untouched natural landscapes; the whole area for miles around was undergone by regular cutting, burning, tilling, and some variety of economic activities. The extensive nature of land use in the Early Iron Age contributed to large-scale transformations affecting a large area. By their intensity these conversions were much more significant than it appears today. The use of geomorphological approach to determine the extent of ancient anthropogenic impacts makes it possible to attribute to anthropogenically transformed territories much larger areas in comparison with archaeologically defined areas. However, many signs of agrogenesis are reversible with time. After 500–600 years the diagnostics of ancient arable lands on soils of light granulometric composition is difficult. During that time the characteristic linear lower bound of the arable horizon disappears completely, the acidic composition of soil solutions is restored, the humus accumulative horizon is formed. The main indicators specific to agricultural soils are preserved only for biophile elements: gross phosphorous and nitrogen.

In recent decades the problem of air pollution with nitrogen compounds is in the spotlight. Due to the fact that nitrogen is actively involved in the natural cycle of substances, even a relatively small input of nitrogen can lead to ecological disturbances of different kind. The estimation of changes that will occur in natural ecosystems while maintaining the current level of anthropogenic emissions of nitrogen is presented on the case of forests in the European part of Russia. The study revealed that the most resistant to the effects of nitrogen emission are mixed-deciduous and coniferous-deciduous forests with a predominance of the meadow-forest edge species, and the most vulnerable are pine forests with a predominance of oligotrophic and mesotrophic species of vegetation.

Data of the monitoring of air temperature in the South-Western Baikal region in the areas of Tunkin and Mondin depressions (the Republic of Buryatia) is analyzed. Year-round observations of air temperatures were carried out from 2007 to 2013 using programmable electronic temperature sensors DS1922L-F5, mounted at 35 observation sites located at altitudes from 718 to 2325 meters. The long-term climatic changes in depressions are described, and a comparative analysis of the results of microclimatic studies of air temperature with observations of weather stations at the study area is provided. The obtained results demonstrated features of the temperature distribution in the mountain-depression landscape. Results can be extrapolated to vast areas and used at modeling of regional climate peculiarities.

The gradient measurements of the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane in the middle taiga subzone of the Yenisei region of Siberia based on five years monitoring (2009–2014) at the ZOTTO Observatory are presented. The features of changing of the content of carbon dioxide and methane in the profile heights up to 301 meters is explained by both daily and seasonal specificity of functioning of terrestrial ecosystems and atmospheric processes. It is shown that in the cold season CO2 and CH4 concentrations in the surface atmosphere change synchronously and are determined by their sources and weather conditions. The results of measurements of methane concentration are compared with those obtained in other areas of Siberia on similar latitude and with measurements on background stations of Russia.

Рецензия на книгу: Полян П.М. Территориальные структуры – урбанизация – расселение: теоретические подходы и методы изучения. М.: Новый Хронограф, 2014. Серия “Социальное пространство”. 788 с.

Короткой фразой этот огромный и интересный труд можно определить удачным предисловием Г.М. Лаппо “Сплав теории и эмпирики...”. Такие работы выходят в свет довольно редко, а спрос на них – большой: они представляют интерес для экономистов и хозяйственников, ученых и даже для студентов.

Рецензия на книгу: Вопросы географии / Моск. Филиал ГО СССР / Русское геогр. об-во. М. Сб. 136: Историческая география / Отв. ред. В.М. Котляков, В.Н. Стрелецкий. М.: ИД “Кодекс”, 2013. 528 с.

Историческая география (ИГ) – это междисциплинарный стык исторических и географических наук. Соответствующий сборник – “Историческая география” – вышел недавно под № 136 в знаменитой (и возрожденной теперь!) серии Русского географического общества “Вопросы географии”.

Она состоит из трех десятков статей, из четырех десятков авторов которых – четверо историков, а остальные географы.

Рецензия на сборник: Вопросы географии. Сб. 137: Горные иссле- дования. Горные регионы северной Евразии. Развитие в условиях глобальных изменений / Отв. ред. В.М. Котляков, Ю.П. Баденков, К.В. Чистяков. М.: ИД «Кодекс», 2014. 584 с.

Рецензируемая книга вышла в возрожденной серии “Вопросы географии” и достойно представляет и серию, и заявленную тему. Содержательно сборник в целом не просто хорош, а очень хорош. Все, кроме одной, статьи, столь разные по замаху или территории исследования, объединяет высокое качество и информационная насыщенность.

8 марта 2015 г. исполнилось 75 лет Владимиру Федоровичу Логинову, академику Национальной академии наук Беларуси, доктору географических наук, профессору, лауреату Государственной премии Республики Беларусь. В этом же году отмечается и 50-летие его научной деятельности.